Patient Resilience Has Moderate Correlation With Functional Outcomes, but Not Satisfaction, After Primary Unilateral Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND

As many as 20% of patients who undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are dissatisfied. Psychological factors have been shown to play a role in outcomes after TKA. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of patient resilience on functional outcomes and satisfaction after primary unilateral TKA.

METHODS

Eighty-six patients who underwent primary unilateral TKA by a single surgeon were studied. Primary outcomes were the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), mental health component of the Veterans Rand 12-Item Health Survey (VR-12 MCS), Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score for Joint Replacement, and New Knee Society Score. Correlations between BRS and dependent variables were found by using Spearmen's Rho Correlation testing. Unadjusted and adjusted regressions were run using the delta values as the dependent outcome and the BRS score as the main independent value, with data presented as an estimate of 95% confidence interval value.

RESULTS

Resilience significantly correlated with male sex ( = .031), preoperative VR-12 MCS scores ( = .013), and postoperative VR-12 MCS scores ( < .001). BRS had moderate correlation with postoperative Knee Society Scores (KSS) Functional Activity Scores, as this approached, but did not achieve statistical significance ( = .062). There was no correlation between BRS and postoperative KSS Patient Expectations score, KSS Patient Satisfaction score, or total postoperative opioid usage.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary TKA patients with greater resilience are more likely to be male and have better mental health characteristics than those with lower resilience. Patients with greater resilience also tended to have improved knee function after TKA, although this was not statistically significant. Resiliency did not correlate with postoperative opioid consumption or patient satisfaction after TKA.